Tournament Time A Surprise Time

March 06, 1986|by JOHN KUNDA, The Morning Call

This is supposed to be "Runaway Night" in the Big East Basketball Tournament. Take note, Syracuse is a 10-point choice over Boston College; Georgetown is a 10 1/2 -point favorite over Pitt, and St. John's is a 17-point favorite over Seton Hall. Only the Villanova-Providence game (the Wildcats are favored by five) supposedly has earmarks of a struggle.

Don't be fooled, the tournament will get better, and before a champion is crowned Saturday night, there could be a surprise or two.

There have been a raft of stories in recent days about how ridiculous these conference tournaments are. The critics ask why does a team have to prove itself all over again after going through a rigorous conference schedule during the regular season.

There's no question that these tournaments are for the second-chancers. In other words, a whole season can be made up during a tournament. The heat is on the upper echelon teams, those that have proved their worth in the regular season.

Money is the bottom line, but to the big crowds that show up for these conference tournaments, the competitiveness overrides the dollar signs. Besides, conference tournament champions usually end up with better seedings in the vast NCAA Tournament field.

The Atlantic Coast Conference was one of the first to run a postseason tournament. The conference made no bones about the fact that the tournament was held to make money. The tournament was a drain on the ACC teams, and it showed in the NCAA Tournament that followed. Rarely did an ACC team do well in the national tournament because of the emotion that surrounded the conference event. Everything after an ACC Tournament championship was anticlimactic.

The popularity of the conference tournaments skyrocketed in recent years. You can count on one hand the conferences that don't have a postseason tournament. These tournaments are the "in" thing for alumni, especially, and for those who keep their fingers in the money.

If there is any right time for a conference tournament, this might be the year in the Big East. St. John's and Syracuse, you know, ended dead-even record wise in the conference. However, St. John's, because of tie-breaker rules, was declared the winner.

If all goes well, the two should meet in Saturday's final and settle the issue once and for all. But there are stumbling blocks.

Not so surprising is that Georgetown is getting some backing in the tournament. The Hoyas are the defending champions, and have come on strong in recent days. Only last week, they hammered Pitt by better than 30 points.

Besides, Georgetown has four senior starters, and these veterans have been to the postseason wars almost from the time they arrived on campus. The Hoyas are 22-6 for the season and seeded third in the conference tournament.

For the record, Georgetown was a victim of a second-chance team a year ago. Remember Villanova, a Big East Conference rival? The Wildcats, even though they didn't win the Big East a year ago, got into the NCAA Tournament, and went all the way to the final and won the whole shooting match.

And Villanova's victim in the NCAA title game? None other than Georgetown.

Close followers of the Big East say that Syracuse has the most talent. In fact, the Orangemen were unanimous choices to win the Big East. Yet, they faltered, which happens to be a Syracuse trademark.

Could this be Syracuse's get-even weekend?

St. John's wasn't supposed to be much of a factor because of the departure of Chris Mullin. Yet, the Redmen have matured into a team to be reckoned with and now come into the tournament as the favorite.

Villanova needs a strong showing to land an NCAA bid. If there is a team lacking in experience it is Villanova. Villanova, they say, is a year or two away from another run at the Final Four.